Artificial skiing surfaces



May 28, 1968 E. J. AHERN ARTIFICIAL SKIING SURFACES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed June 50, 1966 m mxm EDMJ/ May 28, 1968 E. J. AHERN ARTIFICIALSKIING SURFACES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 30, 1966 United StatesPatent O 3,385,229 ARTIFICIAL SKIING SURFACES Edward J. Ahern,Manchester, N.I-I., assignor to S. A.

Feiton and Son Company, Manchester, N.H., a corporation of Maine FiledJune 38, 1966, Ser. No. 561,963 6 (Ilaims. (Cl. 104-173) ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE An artificial skiing surface comprising a network of stripmembers joined together in mesh forming relationship. The upper surfacesof the strip members are provided with brush bristles or other resilientprojections for forming a non-continuous sliding surface havingproperties similar to natural snow.

This invention relates to an artificial skiing surface and is directedmore particularly to such a surface for use under ski tows.

The use of artificial skiing surfaces has become popular in areas whichare likely to suffer from an inadequate supply of natural snow or whichare desirous of extending the ski season beyond its normal limits. Themost widely used surface comprises a mesh network made up of brushstrips having the brush bristles turned upward (see Patent No.3,047,292, issued July 31, 1962 to P. Acquaderni). It has been foundthat the brush bristles provide a surface having characteristics similarto snow. These characteristics permit skiing on such surfaces in amanner approximating skiing on natural snow. To enable a skier to turnand maneuver on the artificial surface as readily as in snow, the brushtype artificial surfaces produced thus far have comprised a mesh ofstrip brush members formed in a series of diamond-shaped configurationswhich afford. the proper angular resistance to the skier moving downhill to enable him to change his direction of movement as he would insnow.

One of the areas where artificial skiing surfaces have foundparticularly wide acceptance is as a supporting surface under ski towswhich pull skiers uphill. Because of the high rate of usage oversubstantially the same path, the snow under ski tows is likely to wearthrough rather quickly. In practice, many ski tow operators find itnecessary to have snowmaking machines in operation almost continuouslyto provide snow under the ski tow. Other operators employ shovelers whomanually place additional snow under the tow line. The use of brush-typeskiing surfaces of present design have been helpful in suchcircumstances but have provided some problems which prove bothersome toskiers and ski tow operators. Skiing surfaces in use thus far, utilizingdiagonally arranged brush portions, afford excellent maneuveringcharacteristics for downhill runs but have proved bothersome in uphilltowing.

When brush-type skiing surfaces of the prior art have been used underski tows the diagonal brush strips have tended to cause a pair of skisto travel a diagonal course. Thus, a skier being towed uphill muststruggle somewhat to prevent his skis from colliding with one another,or to prevent their separating in a manner other than graceful, or toprevent being drawn diagonally toward or away from the tow line.

Another objection to the use of known brush-type skiing surfaces underski tows is the relatively high frictional resistance occasioned by therelatively dense arrangement of brush portions. The resistance factor isimportant in uphill towing where the skier is being pulled in adirection having a vector directly into the hillside.

Still another objection to the use of the known brushtype ski mats undera ski tow is the unwarranted expense involved. For uphill towing it isnot necessary that the mesh design be as dense as it is in presentlyknown surfaces. In addition, the known surfaces comprising diagonallyplaced brush elements require a connecting member at each point of eachdiamond, thereby necessitating a rather large number of connectors foreach ski mat. Inasmuch as the coupling of the various componentscontributes a substantial portion of the total cost of a surface, it isdesirable to reduce the required number of connections. Other factorscontributing to the expense of brush-type surfaces, such as the oneabove referred to, include the relatively large number of bends in thestrip members, which require several bending operations and occasionwaste of material, as will be further explained below.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide animproved brush-type skiing surface for use under ski tows and the like.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a surface for useunder ski tows which will not precipitate the movement of skis toward oraway from each other or at an angle to the desired line of travel, butinstead will facilitate straight line movement.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide such asurface suitable for use under ski tows and having a mesh less densethan heretofore known, there-by lowering frictional resistance anddecreasing manufacturing costs.

A still further object is to provide a surface requiring a substantiallylesser number of couplings between adjacent brush members, therebyfurther reducing manufacturing costs.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a surface asabove described which has fewer bends per strip member than presentknown surfaces of the same type and which may be manufactured withsubstantially less waste of material, whereby there may berealized astill further reduction in manufacturing costs.

With the above and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear,the present invention contemplates the provision of an artificial skisurface comprising a network of strip members which are arranged in meshforming relationship with each other. Each of the strips is bent to astep-like configuration with half the length of a strip bein symmetricalto the other half. Each strip is joined to the adjacent strips byconnections proximate to the points of the steps. There is accordinglyprovided a surface having portions running generally straight uphill andother portions adjoining, but substantially normal to, the uphillportions.

It is to be understood that the present invention is by no means limitedto the particular construction shown in the drawings, but also comprisesany modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective View of one form of skiing 3 surface embodyingthe invention and showing a skier being towed uphill thereon;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of two brush strips held together by aconnector; and

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the skiing surface shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings, it may be seen that the illustrative skiingsurface includes a series of strip brush members 2, 4, 6, etc., joinedtogether to form a mesh design, and having their bristles extendingupwardly to provide a surface for supporting the movement of skiersthereon. Referring particularly to the strip member 2, it will be seenthat the strip members are bent to a steplike configuration with onehalf of the member identified by the numeral 8 being symmetrical to theother half of the strip member identified by the numeral 10. The stepsare such that portions of the brush 12, 14, 16 and 18 are substantiallynormal to other portions of the brush 20, 22, 24. The juncture of theportion 12 and the adjoining portion 20 forms a point 26. In likemanner, the junctures of adjoining portions 20 and 14 form a point 28.Other points 40, 32, 34 and 36 are similarly formed.

The strip member 4 is formed in the same manner as the strip member 2and is attached to strip member 2 by connectors 38, 40, 42, 44, whichare proximate to points 26, 30, 32 and 36', respectively these pointsbeing contiguous to the adjacent strip member 2. The connectors may bewire, clips, rivets, staples or the like, an illustrative staple beingshown in FIG. 2. A portion 14 0f the strip member 4 is essentially anextension of the portion 14 of the adjacent strip member 2. In likemanner a portion 16' of the strip member 4 is essentially an extensionof portion 16 of strip member 2. Substantially normal to the stripmembers 14, 14 and 16, 16' and normal to a ski tow line L are portions20, 20 and 24, 24'. By affording brush portions only in line with andnormal to the tow line the surface is particularly well suited tostraight line travel. In addition, because of the relatively low densityof the surface design, resistance to ski movement thereon isproportionately less, a factor which is of particular importance inuphill movement.

A typical surface constructed in accordance with the present inventionmight be about 4 feet by 6 feet, or the approximate size of the surfaceshown in the above cited patent. However, the surface herein described,usually comprising about twelve strip members, has only about fiftypercent of the total length of brush material as a like size of thecited prior art surface, and only about thirty percent as manyconnectors. In addition, the present surface has only about half as manybends per strip member as the cited prior art surface and each bend issubstantially a ninety degree bend, requiring fewer motions inmanufacture which account for about a seventy percent reductionin thetime spent effecting proper bending of the strip members. Still further,all bends in the present surface are a substantial distance away fromthe ends of the strip members, the length between a strip member end andthe first bend facilitating the bending operation. In the patentedsurface above referred to, bending must be done so near the ends of thestrip members that an additional length of strip member is requiredmerely to facilitate the last bend toward each end; after 'the bendingoperation is completed, the extra length is cut 01?.

Thus, it may be seen that the present design, as compared to thebrush-type surface of US. Fatent No. 3,047,- 292, provides a surfacebetter adapted for straight line motion and offering less frictionalresistance. In short, the present invention provides a surface morenearly approximating natural snow in the uphill ski tow situation. Inaddition to improved operating characteristics, the invention provides asurface which is substantially less expensive to manufacture.

In operation, several of the surfaces are joined endto-end to form anextended artificial skiing surface under a tow line which is caused tomove generally axially by a power source (not shown). The surface is sodesigned that skiers may be towed in pairs, one on either side of thetow line. Thus, one skier may use the half 8 of the surface While asecond skier along side, or close by, the first skier uses the half 10of the surface. The mesh design permits easy movement of the skis overthe surface and in the same direction as the tow line without theindividual skiers skis tending to part or collide and without the skiersthemselves tending to collide or to be carried away from the tow line.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An artificial skiing surface comprising a network of strip members,said strip members being arranged in mesh forming relationship with eachother, each of said members being bent in a step-like configurationthroughout its length, portions of each of said members beingsubstantially normal to adjoining portions of the same strip member, theadjoining portions normal to each other having a juncture at a commonbend in the strip member, each strip member being bound to at least oneadjacent strip member by connections proximate to the bends of the stripmember contiguous with said adjacent strip member, each strip memberhaving an upper surface, and a bunched plurality of adjoining resilientand laterally bendable projections upstanding from the upper surfacesfor forming a non-continuous sliding surface. I

2. An artificial skiing surface comprising a network of strip members,said strip members being arranged in mesh forming relationship with eachother, each of said strip members having a step-like configurationthroughout a first half of its length, each of said strip members havinga second half substantially symmetrical to the first half, each stripmember having a plurality of points formed by the junctures of adjoiningportions of the member which are substantially normal to each other,each strip member being joined to at least one adjacent strip member byconnections proximate to the points of the strip members contiguous withsaid adjacent strip member, each member having an upper surface, and abunched plurality of adjoining upright resilient and laterally bendableprojections upstanding from the upper surfaces for forming anon-continuous sliding surface.

3. An artificial skiing surface comprising a network of strip members,said strip members being arranged in mesh forming relationship with eachother, each of said strip members being bent in a step-likeconfiguration throughout a first half of its length, each of said stripmembers having a second half bent whereby to be substantiallysymmetrical to the first half, portions of each of said members beingsubstantially normal to adjoining portions of the same member, adjacentstrip member portions normal to each other having a juncture at a commonbend in the member, each strip member being bound to at least oneadjacent strip member by connections proximate to the bends of the stripmember contiguous with said adjacent strip member, each strip having anupper surface, and a bunched plurality of adjoining resilient andlaterally bendable projections upstanding from the upper surfaces forforming a non-continuous sliding surface.

4. The invention according to claim 3 in which said upstandingprojections comprise brush bristles.

5. A ski tow system comprising a tow line for pulling a skier uphill andan artificial skiing surface under the tow line for supporting a skierbeing towed uphill, said artificial surface comprising a network ofstrip members arranged in mesh forming relationship with each other,each of said strip members being bent in a step-like configurationthroughout its length, portions of each of said members beingsubstantially parallel to said tow line, said portions beingsubstantially normal to adjoining portions of the same member, eachstrip member being joined to at least one adjacent strip member byconnections proximate to the bends of the strip member contiguous withsaid adjacent strip member, each strip memher having an upper surface,said upper surface comprising a bunched plurality of adjoiningupstanding bendable projections.

6. The invention according to claim 5 in which half the length of astrip member is symmetrical to the other 372,306 11/1887 Fenton 10469 611/1911 Bailey 104134 7/1962 Acquaderni 272-565 12/1965 Hall 27256.52/1966 Meyer 272-565 5/1966 Dean 27256.5 5/ 1966 Niizaki 27256.5

FOREIGN PATENTS 10/1965 Canada. 5/ 1962 France.

ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner.

D. F. WORTH, Assistant Examiner.

